Politics in Hessen

November 4, 2008 By 1 Comment

Whilst most of the World is watching what’s going on in the U.S.A. today, one part of Germany is still trying to cope with the results of an election held months ago.  9 Months to be exact.

Since January, no single political party and not even a coalition has had a majority in the local parliament in Hessen.  This has meant that the previous Ministerpräsident has simply stayed in office whilst the parties try to find a way to form a government.

Last week the SPD thought that they had managed it.  Their candidate, Andrea Ypsilanti, was to be voted in to form a minority coalition government between the SPD and the Green party, with support from Die Linke.  This was controversial from the outset as during the election campaign Frau Ypsilanti had said that she would not work together with Die Linke party.

Then, yesterday, it all went wrong.  Previously one of the SPD MPs had said that she would not be voting in favour of Frau Ypsilanti, yesterday there were suddenly three more!  The majority was no longer possible – even with the cross-party support, and so the vote was not held.

Instead, most of the parties have told the press that they want to have new elections.  They may even call for them in the next sitting of parliament, meaning that the elections would be held in January.

And that’s something that many politicians want to avoid, as it would mean campaigning through the Christmas and New Year periods, when people are generally less interested in politics.

But that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen.  So here are my predictions for the forthcoming election campaign:

– the election will take place on the earliest possible date, ie. 18th January

– the parties will be campaigning at the Christmas markets, no doubt giving out free Glühwein and Stollen, leading to a number of TV reports along the lines of “the economy is bad enough, but the vendors at the Christmas markets are doing even worse than expected due the amount of free Glühwein being given away”

– the SPD and the Green party will lose voters, and Die Linke will have an even stronger roll to place in the next parliament, although the CDU and FDP will have enough gains to form a coalition.

What do you think?

Filed Under: Current affairs Tagged With: , , , ,

Do biofuels make food more expensive? My dealer says: no!

November 4, 2008 By 4 Comments

There has been a lot of dicussion in the media recently about biofuels.  Many people, even U.N. officials, claim that producing biofuels is pushing up the cost of producing food and thus making it more difficult to fund projects in third-world countries.

The issue is so important, that my car dealer has sent out a newsletter to inform his bio-ethanol customers how he sees the situation.

He agrees that the price of basic foodstuffs has risen, but points out that the price of grain on the world markets is at the same level as it was in 1980.

The reason for this is apparently that during the 1990s the EU and the USA there was an overproduction of grain which, coupled with subsidies, led to the price dropping so much that it often cost more to transport a sack of grain that the contents of the sack itself were worth.

I remember at the end of the 1990s being involved in projects campaigning for the “fair pricing” of goods from third-world countries.  Farmers in those countries should have a fair chance to sell their produce on the world markets, but were being forced to sell at artificially low prices due to the subsidies of the wealthier countries.

The rising food prices are down to these policies, and not due to biofuel production, he claims.  Indeed, he continues by writing that less than 1% of the world biomass production goes towards making biofuels.  It is unlikely that such a small percentage could have such a large effect on food prices.

It is also worth noting, that European biofuels are made from sources such as sugar-beet – and mainly from extra-production or as a secondary product.

So I shall carry on filling up my car with bio-ethanol with a clear conscience.

Filed Under: Bio-Ethanol Tagged With: , ,

The U.S. votes – and Bolivia waits…

November 4, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Bolivia has not really got on too well with President Bush’s administration.

Over the past year they have expelled each other’s ambassadors.  Bolivia has accused U.S. officials of supporting anti-government demonstrations, whilst the U.S. has withdrawn trade benefits because it says Bolivia is not co-operating as much as they would like on the battle against illegal drugs.

So this morning I was fascinated by a headline in my inbox this morning: “Bolivia wants better ties with next U.S. government.”

What does Bolivia expect from the new administration?  I’m not so sure that either candidate in the U.S. would change much in the relationship with Bolivia.  A new U.S. President cannot be seen to be soft on drugs, and unfortunately for many people the local uses of the coca leaf in Bolivia are ignored – for them it is the basis for cocaine and nothing else.

President Morales, on the other hand, will not want to make concessions to a new U.S. President and disadvantage his own people.

So whatever the outcome of today’s election, I think the stalemate will continue.  But perhaps with the right result, it may be a case of laissez-faire, with each side leaving the other to get on with their policies.  In the long run this could help both countries more than applying unwanted pressure.

Filed Under: Bolivia, News Tagged With:

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